American Idol: And Then There Were Seven

With the exit of Michael Johns on American Idol last week, the competition took an unexpected turn. Suddenly, the competition is not so friendly. Viewers are reminded that if they don't vote for their favorites, they could see that person go home.

With only seven people left, I am sticking with my original prediction that the show will be won by David Cook. Even with his weak performance last week of "Innocent," he will still prevail as the winner of season seven of American Idol. Cook has a lot of talent that will transcend well past this competition. He gives the talent contest credibility as a place that real performers can play. It's not just about singing the songs to Cook. He infuses pieces of himself into each performance, making them fun and exciting to watch. Week after week, I find myself glued to the television set when David Cook performs, even when the performance is les than stellar. There is something about him, the cool confidence that he has maintained throughout the show, which draws me to him week after week.

Coming in second will be the master of the tear ducts, David Archuleta. Archuleta does his best to infuse feeling into all of his performances. When Archuleta performed "Imagine," I was mesmerized. I will admit that I replayed the performance on the DVR right after it was over. At that time, he was my favorite. Something faded in David, though. He is still the same young man with the smooth, earnest voice, but I have realized that his performances are close to the same week after week. I need some excitement when watching American Idol, and I have not been getting that with Archuleta. While he is definitely a talented performer, I no longer enjoy hearing his songs of inspiration week after week. Rarely does he mix it up and step outside of his comfort zone, and when he does, it is met with mixed reviews, at best.

Carly Smithson will squeak in at third place on American Idol. Smithson has had her ups and downs in the competition. Last week, she found herself in the bottom three after her performance of "The Show Must Go On" by Queen. The judges thought her performance seemed angry and forced, and I agreed with them to a certain extent. However, I believe that this week Carly will prove herself to be a much bigger contender in this competition. She has a tendency to follow weak performances with strong ones, and with that in mind, I expect her to blow the audience away on Tuesday. Smithson has an amazing voice, and as her personality comes out more and more, she will become a force to be reckoned with.

Fourth place will belong to Jason Castro. He will barely miss making it an all male top three. What will keep him from third place is his inability to consistently shine with his soft, folk driven vocals. While Castro has made some very smart song choices, most notably "Hallelujah" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," he fails to make an impact week after week. At times, he appears to be singing to a group of college girls while sitting in a dorm room instead of an audience of millions. Even though part of his charm is his folk approach, it will keep him from getting past fourth place. Still, I do not believe that American Idol will be the end of Jason Castro. America will hear more from him in the future.

Initially strong, Brooke White has started to fade the last few weeks, which is why I am putting her in fifth place. The first week of Beatles week, when Brooke sang "Let it Be," proved to be her last really strong performance. Last week, when she sang "You've Got a Friend," I was very bored. I have loved White from the beginning, and I keep hoping that she will do something different. However, that has not been the case. She's become a bore, which is very unfortunate given the amount of talent she has. Unless she changes it up, and quickly, she will be eliminated soon.

Kristy Lee Cook will be eliminated right before Brooke, putting her in sixth place on this season of American Idol. A strong performance last week kept Kristy Lee out of the bottom three, but I think history will soon repeat itself and she'll find herself taking a stool once again. "Anyway" was the perfect song for Kristy Lee, but she won't be able to have the type of freedom on song choice every week. She is incapable of winning the audience over with any song that is not a country song. An artist that cannot step out of her genre does not go far on American Idol, unless they have the "cute" factor that David Archuleta possesses.

Syesha Mercado will finish in eighth place, which means she will be the next person eliminated. Mercado is a good singer, but she does little to wow the audience. Last week, she performed the song "I Believe", which was the same song Fantasia sang when she won American Idol. That seemed to be a little pretentious to many people. Also, lately she's been arguing with the judges, which is not helping her plight. Most importantly, though, I can find very little to say about Mercado, which sums up the problem with her. It is like there's nothing behind the eyes. I cannot connect to her, so even when her voice comes out nicely, I feel absent from her performance.

There have been many twists and turns during season seven of American Idol. It has been an exciting season to watch, and with strong performers still clawing their way to the top, the excitement is sure to continue. Even though I feel strongly about my predictions, I know that a performer's standing in the competition can change from week to week.